This invention relates to voting machines and more particularly to a voting machine with a primary election mechanism.
A mechanical voting machine is shown in the Shoup U.S. Pat. No. 2,054,102. Mechanical voting machines of this type employ interlocks to limit the number of votes which may be cast for a candidate. Interlocks are shown, for example, in the Shoup U.S. Pat. No. 2,293,669. U.S. Pat. No. 3,054,557 Shoup et al describes a voting machine which can be used in either a declared or a selective primary.
In a declared primary election the voter must give the name of his party and the election officer adjusts the machine so as to lock out the voting facilities of all parties other than that to which the voter belongs. Shoup et al U.S. Pat. No. 3,051,379 is an example of a voting machine capable of operation in a declared primary.
In a selective primary the voter does not give the name of his party, but the machine is so arranged that, if the voter turns the voting spindles assigned to a candidate running for the office of mayor of the ticket of one party, the voting spindles assigned to other candidates running for the same office on the ticket of other parties, are locked out. Alternatively, the voter turns a party selector knob which allows him to vote for the candidates of his party, but the candidates of all other parties are locked out.